The WBO super middleweight champion, Billy Joe Saunders, has apologised after a video emerged of him giving advice to men on how to hit their female partners if tempers flared during the coronavirus lockdown.

Footage showed the 30-year-old, who retained his title by beating the Argentinian Marcelo Esteban Coceres in Los Angeles in November, working out on a punch bag. In the video, Saunders talked about how to react if “your old woman is giving you mouth” and “she’s coming at you, spitting a bit of venom in your face”.

The boxer demonstrated on the punchbag as he talked about how to “hit her on the chin” and then “finish her off”. Following a fierce backlash on social media, Saunders apologised if he “offended any women”.

“I would never condone domestic violence and if I saw a man touch a woman I would smash him to pieces myself,” Saunders said in a post on Twitter. “Apologies if I offended any women, stay blessed.”

Saunders had been scheduled to fight the Mexican Saúl “Canelo” Álvarez in May, but the contest was postponed due to the pandemic. Last week, he posted a video on his social media account after it emerged he made a call to an airline, claiming concerns over a potential coronavirus infection, which resulted in his coach Ben Davison and fellow boxer Josh Taylor being removed from a flight.